Oceansphere: An Automated Fish Farm

Fish farming is highly advanced nowadays. The production of fishes is a matter of great concern as some of the species are getting extinct due to the climatic changes, pollution and too much fishing. So Hawaii Oceanic Technology (HOTI)—a Hawaiian company—has come to the rescue of these water lives. Isn’t it good to see companies bother about life more than profit? This project is going to be a big success and it is a future aspect to think about.

The Oceansphere project is the construction of an automated geodesic pod in the shape of a sphere in order to raise a large population of sea fishes. The approximate size of the sphere is around 55 metres in which the HOTI company is trying to breed around 1000 tons of ahi tuna. This oceansphere is a highly equipped spherical cage, which has automated systems such as feeding systems and cleaning systems, which were of great concern for the workers when manual. The stable sphere also has sensors attached that will give out information related to water quality and mineral deficiency.

“This technology will raise a number of tuna fishes that is from the eggs to harvestable adult fish,” says Bill Spencer, HOTI CEO. The company has got the rights from the Army Corps of Engineers to construct the 12 spheres on 247 acre site which is situated 5 kilometres off Malae Point of Hawaii island and submerge the deepwater pens in the waters of Pacific ocean.

The finalization of the oceansphere structure, size, design and its waste collection or dispose has to be taken care of, prior to its release in the market. The local residents of North Kohala wrote complaints to the Hawaii’s State Board of Land and Natural Resources that the disposed waste from these spheres will damage the environment. Bill Spencer put down all these rumors that the project is environmentally sound and will not harm the ecosystem.

Thus, the open sphere fish farm is expected to boost the economy by the increased sales of fishes for example tuna. The patented oceansphere technology is supposed to hit the market by the end of the 2017 and expand internationally.